Modern Day Cinderella Story
by katy89
Summary: Set in modern day. Has the same names but some of them are a little different. Plot is different. Prologue inside. FINISHED!
1. Prologue

Ella is sixteen years old and has always lived with her mom. But now she has to move in with her dad who has remarried to an evil lady and her two daughters. But they've found out a secret about Ella. A secret she doesn't want anyone to know. So now she has to do everything her stepmother tells her to do or she will tell everybody. But Ella has secretly told her best friend from her old home. When she is introduced to her friend's rich cousin during an IM chat with her, Ella starts to befriend the man her cousins are trying to win without knowing it. But when she finally does meet him and has to go to a dance to tell him the truth of who she really is, things get heated and Ella's secret comes out. Can the man that Ella has learned to love try to rescue her before its too late? 


	2. First Days

A/n: first chap is pretty boring, I'll get more into it in the second. And thanks for telling me about the anonymous reviews. Didn't see that.  
  
I have lived with my mom my whole life and have never known my father. He knew I was alive, he just never came to see me. But one day I had to go live with him.  
  
I kind of freaked him out when I showed up on his front doorstep. And my stepmother's mouth fell open. Guess daddy dearest forgot to mention me.  
  
But he left a few weeks after I arrived for some job of his. So I was left with my stepmother and stepsisters.  
  
The youngest one, Olive was stupid as can be. I swear it took her ten minutes to figure out I was from a previous marriage my father had had.  
  
But the older one, Hattie, was not so keen to have me in the house. She would glare at me mostly until I would ask her if I had something in my teeth. She would politely say no, then go back to glaring.  
  
But there is one thing I do not like about my stepfamily. They soon figured out a secret that I was keeping from my father. When I had left home my mother told me that my father was never to know, but somehow MADAM Olga found out.  
  
She threatened me that if I didn't do everything they said she would tell my father and I would be done for.  
  
So I do everything around the house, mostly cleaning. But Mum Olga (as she has me call her) hired someone to cook because all I can cook is toast and microwavable things.  
  
Oh, well. One less thing for me to do.  
  
But the good thing is that I have my own computer. I had recently received a laptop from my mom for my last birthday and had brought it with me when I came here.  
  
So every night I would get on there and talk to all my friends back home.  
  
But the person I most talked to was my best friend Arieda. Everyone always called us the Siamese twins because we were always together.  
  
So one night I was talking to her on my cell phone when she introduced me to her cousin.  
  
"Hey Ella, I want you to meet my cousin. Char! Pick up the phone and say hi!"  
  
Ella heard more sounds come in through the other end and a voice said, "hello."  
  
"Hi" I said laughing.  
  
"Ella, this is my cousin Char. He's been visiting my family for the past two days."  
  
"Its nice to meet you Ella" Char said.  
  
"Nice to meet you to."  
  
And that was basically it. After that we kept in touch even after he left Arieda's. He was someone I could just talk to. He was like Arieda in some ways, but completely different from her in others.  
  
I guess now is the time to tell you about the cook. Her name is Mandy. She cooks the best food you would ever think of. She could turn the worst possible soup into mouth-watering food.  
  
I'm quite fond of her and she seems to like me. She likes the way I do my own thing instead of what other people tell me to do. She also knows about my secret. And she knows how desperate I am to not have my father find out.  
  
So Mandy is like my best friend in my new town. She's nice and will always cook us things in secret. Delicious foods like white cake.  
  
I am the official outcast at school. Nobody likes me because my rep was ruined by my stepsisters before I even had one.  
  
But unfortunately, life goes on. 


	3. AN

A/n: in my comp at home I can't log in. it says:  
  
FanFiction.Net has detected that you do not have browser Cookies enabled. Our secure login process cannot function without cookies.  
  
Please turn on Cookies in your browser settings and re-try login.  
  
Enable cookies for MS Internet Explorer 6:  
  
Tools (Menu) » Internet Options » Privacy (Tab) Make sure privacy level is at "Medium"  
  
My privacy level is at medium and I don't know what else to do.  
  
Does anybody? 


	4. Woes and Phone Calls

A/n: thanks to all the people who reviewed. And thanks mmer. I'll try that.  
  
WHY WAS I BORN TO THIS LIFE??!!  
  
I can't tell anyone the secret and I'm enslaved because of that.  
  
SOMEBODY GET ME OUT OF THIS!!!  
  
They've gotten worse. I now can have no life, period. I have no friends at school, and to make it worse, my stepsisters are spreading rumors about me.  
  
Of course I'm not affected by it, I'm furious at them sure, but you know what, once I'm finished here I'm gonna go home to where I'm actually loved.  
  
Maybe I can even meet Char when I go back.  
  
But the catch is that my father has to come home before I can leave. I made more than one promise to my mom and I'm going to keep every single one of them. And one of them has to do with my father.  
  
Now you are probably wanting to know what the promises are and what my little secret is. BUT I AIN'T GONNA TELL YAH!! You will be informed in later chapters.  
  
So lets continue.  
  
I was sitting in my room doing homework when my cell rang. It was Char.  
  
"Hey" he said.  
  
"Hi" I said.  
  
"What have you been up to?"  
  
"Nothing really. Just doing homework."  
  
"I'm lucky, I have tutors."  
  
"Dang you."  
  
"Yeah I know" he said laughing. "So how's your loving stepfamily?"  
  
"Oh very funny." He knew I hated my stepfamily, he just didn't know why. "Being their most angelic selves, as usual of course."  
  
"Of course" Char agreed jokingly.  
  
"So what about you. Mr. I'm So Special, I Have Tutors?"  
  
"I'm doing good."  
  
"Where exactly do you live?" I said very off-topically.  
  
"In Frell."  
  
"My dad lives in Bast." (I've changed it, sorry. Couldn't have them in the same village.)  
  
"Maybe sometime I can visit you there."  
  
I tensed up but didn't let it show. "Yeah maybe" I lied. I was NOT going to have him come knocking on my doorstep to have me answer the door with soot on my face from when I was ordered to clean the chimney.  
  
"Cool. We'll set it up sometime."  
  
Yeah, how about the fortieth day of the thirteen month at a quarter past never. "Sure." I've been lying my face off lately.  
  
"I've gotta go. My dad's calling me. Talk to yah later."  
  
"Bye." Just as I hung up my cell rang again. "Hello?" I asked.  
  
"Hey." It was Arieda.  
  
"Hey girl. How've yah been?"  
  
"Good. Listen, do you have your laptop with you?"  
  
"Yeah" I said going over to it.  
  
"I just e-mailed you a picture of Char and me when he was here. We just now got the pictures back so I thought I would send you a picture of the man you're going to marry so you can be my cousin."  
  
I laughed. Arieda had been bugging me to marry Char so I could be related to her. I told her that was very unlikely to happen when he's the prince and I'm in a pair of faded jeans covered in grime. Oh, did I forget to mention Char was the prince? When Arieda and I were little she had told me about him so it was no surprise. Boy. Life is weird.  
  
I looked back at my laptop and pulled up a picture with Arieda and Char standing with an arm wrapped around each other's shoulders. Cute I thought. Char had curly hair and looked like his father, except softened.  
  
He was actually kind of cute.  
  
Wow. I'm actually liking a guy. And what do you know? It's the prince.  
  
"It's a cute picture" I told Arieda once I remembered I was on the phone.  
  
"Thanks. So do you like him, cause I can call up my aunt anytime and we can start making preparations?"  
  
I laughed. "Arieda, I am not going to marry someone before I get out of this place."  
  
She sighed. "Yeah, yeah, I know" she said gloomily.  
  
"Besides" I continued. "You know the secret, so I can't marry him anyway. And I really don't want him to know. Even when I come home."  
  
There was a pause. Then Arieda said in an amazed voice, "you like him, don't you?"  
  
"What?! No!"  
  
"You do!"  
  
"No I don't."  
  
"Yes you do. Admit it!" Arieda was getting excited now.  
  
"I do not."  
  
"Yes you do! Now you can come home and marry him and you don't have to worry about the secret anymore!"  
  
"No Arieda!" I jumped out of my chair in anger. "I am NOT going to marry him and have this barrier between us all because I have this secret."  
  
"But Ella, he can fix everything. You don't have to worry. He's rich."  
  
"No Arieda. I won't put all this on him. I won't do it."  
  
Arieda sighed, defeated. "All right Ella. You win. Call me sometime." She hung up the phone.  
  
Arieda and I never fought, so I was overwhelmed when I sat back down. Why is it so hard for her to understand? I don't want him to know. And I am NOT going to lay the burden on him. 


	5. AN2

A/N: READ & REPLY PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'll try to update Monday, but it will most likely be Tuesday since I have to go 2 my cuz's this weekend. So I'll update asap.  
  
And if you want an inside look into whats coming next chap:  
  
Ella gets a surprise. 


	6. Surprises and Secrets

Surprises and Secrets  
  
Needless to say I was hating my life more and more every day. Hattie was making it miserable by ordering me around as much as she could. Olive made me count her money everyday three times a day. Mum Olga orders me too.  
  
So I hang out with Mandy whenever I'm finished with my work.  
  
Everyone has a nickname for me now. The kids at school call me "the girl in the corner." Everyone at home calls me "Cinderella" because of all the cinders I catch on me when cleaning the fireplace. It seems to be the place I get the dirtiest. And Mandy calls me "sweet." Don't know why. She just does.  
  
I was sitting in my room going through a book of fairytales when my cell rang.  
  
"Hey" came Char's voice.  
  
"Hi" I said to him.  
  
"You will never believe my news!"  
  
"What?" I asked putting the book away.  
  
"I'm coming to Bast!"  
  
I could feel my years begin to slip away and all the courage in me fade.  
  
"When?" I asked trying to sound excited. Better think of a plan.  
  
"Next week."  
  
"Oh no!" I said trying to sound down, which wasn't very hard. "I'll be gone that week. My stepfamily and I are getting out of the city to get away from the hassle of everyday life."  
  
"That's too bad" Char said sounding really down.  
  
"I'm sorry. But hey. You can tell me all you did when you get back."  
  
The next week I had just finished cleaning the fireplace when the doorbell rang. I was so covered in soot you couldn't even recognize me, so Mandy opened the door.  
  
I decided to peek around the corner to see who it was without being noticed.  
  
I heard Mandy speak and then a male voice. I looked around the corner and I couldn't believe what I saw.  
  
I wanted to die. 


	7. Discoverings

A/n: remember I told you the plot is a little different and this is where it comes out more.  
  
Discoverings  
  
Char was standing at the door with bodyguards standing behind him. He was talking to Mandy.  
  
Thousands of questions went through my mind.  
  
Why was he here? Was he looking for me? Did he find out where I lived? Did he know of my enslavement? Did he know anything?  
  
But soon even more questions were filling my mind as Char asked to speak with Mum Olga.  
  
Why would he ask to speak with Mum Olga? Did he even know she was my stepmother? Did he know she was slaving me?  
  
Mandy sat him in the parlor and came into the kitchen where I was hiding.  
  
"Mandy! Why is he here?!"  
  
"He's here because he wants to speak to your Mum Olga. Sweet, there's something you should know about."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Your Mum Olga has been friends with the royal family for years. The prince is only visiting her because his family asked him to while he was here. And there's more" said Mandy looking down.  
  
"What?" I asked dreading what she was going to say. I thought things couldn't get worse.  
  
I was wrong.  
  
"Hattie is in favor to become a wife for Char."  
  
**********************************************************************  
  
I wasn't a crier. I mostly just dealt with it. But I did cry when I heard about Hattie being first choice to marry Char.  
  
I always said love was a downfall.  
  
My parents couldn't make it work. Why I never knew. But they couldn't. So my mom moved away and raised me alone.  
  
My friends back home used to have boyfriends and swear they were in love and they were "the one". But then after dances and things they would come home crying saying their boyfriend had broken up with them.  
  
But I never knew it was this hard.  
  
I couldn't have Char. I knew that. But to know he was in the hands of Hattie made me want to burst with anger.  
  
I stayed in my room most of the day. I didn't come out even though I wanted to jump into the living room and through my arms around Char, tell him who I was, my secret, and everything I've been hiding.  
  
So instead I sat there reading my fairy book.  
  
Everyone in Frell has a fairy godmother. I have never met mine, though my mother told me she would be following me all my life.  
  
The fairy book was magic and changed every time I looked in it.  
  
About an hour after Char left I found an entry into his journal.  
  
I wish I could see Ella on this trip. I would love to meet her and tell her how I feel about her.  
  
I have been hiding it for some time, but I love Ella.  
  
I don't know if it was Arieda always pushing me to propose to her so they could be related, or if it was my head getting carried away, or if I really and truly fell for her, but I did.  
  
I am in love with Ella and pray I can one day meet her and confirm my feelings towards her.  
  
I put the book down wishing I hadn't read it.  
  
Char felt the same way. That was sure to only break my heart more.  
  
The next day I got even worse information.  
  
I was reading the magic book again when I heard Hattie screeching downstairs.  
  
She had been staying after school for one of her many clubs and had just come home.  
  
I went downstairs just as Hattie was telling her tale.  
  
"The prince is coming to the school dance this Friday!"  
  
Yep, I'm going to die. 


	8. More Surprises

A/n: I'm not going to say this anymore, so  
  
BEWARE!!!  
  
The plot IS going to be different. And it really starts to come out more.  
  
More Surprises  
  
The next few days after that were crazy. I wanted my dad to come home as soon as he could so I could say goodbye and leave. But guess what, I got another surprise.  
  
I was in the kitchen talking to Mandy when Mum Olga came in and said my father was to come home Saturday, and I was supposed to go shopping so as not to show that I has been enslaved.  
  
So I went and bought the most expensive clothes I could buy. It was fun!  
  
But when I came home I was putting all my clothes away when I heard a knock on my door.  
  
"Come in!"  
  
Mandy opened my door and came in. "Hey sweet" she said sitting down on my bed.  
  
"Hey" I said putting some shirts in the top drawer of my dresser.  
  
"I have something to tell you sweet. Sit down."  
  
I sat beside her on my bed.  
  
"There is a reason that your Mum Olga knows the prince. Your father works for the royal family as an advisor."  
  
I was beyond being sad, or even mad. I just sat there staring at her. "I don't know why I'm surprised" I said.  
  
Mandy looked at me sadly. "Oh sweet" she said hugging me. "I have something else to tell you."  
  
I sat up and looked at her. "What is it?"  
  
"I'm your fairy godmother."  
  
I sat there just looking at her with my mouth wide open. "You're my fairy godmother?!"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"You! You're the one who's always been there throughout my life watching me?"  
  
"Well, yes." Mandy was looking worried.  
  
"Cool!" I said hugging her.  
  
I was enjoying my new clothes, but my status at school hadn't gone up.  
  
I still talked to Arieda and Char hadn't called me because he had such a busy schedule.  
  
I wanted to go home.  
  
Unfortunately, I didn't get to.  
  
I made a promise to my mom, and I'm going to keep it.  
  
Once my dad comes home, I'm leaving and getting out of here.  
  
But it's Friday, and the dance is tonight. 


	9. Being Different

Being Different  
  
It took the whole time from when they came home after school to the time to leave to get Hattie and Olive ready for the dance.  
  
While I was getting her ready, Hattie talked to me non-stop.  
  
Mostly what she talked about was how she wanted to be different from everyone else so she could catch the prince's eye.  
  
"From what I hear, you don't need to catch his eye since your mother has a special relationship with him."  
  
"Yes, I know. But I still need to be different. Like you. You're different Ella." She turned to look at me while she continued. "You are the only girl in our school who isn't rich, or famous for that matter. You just sit there in your own little world doing what you want to do." I couldn't read the expression on Hattie's face. "You're your own person. Like nobody else." Exactly what I think. "Especially with your little secret" she said suddenly smiling her vicious smile. "Now do my hair!"  
  
I always knew I was different, and I was happy I was. But I still had the secret. And no matter what I did, it wouldn't go away.  
  
I had called my mother that morning and told her about dad coming home tomorrow and I would catch a flight on Sunday.  
  
I had to make the call while she was at work, so it was on the answering machine.  
  
Arieda was happy when I told her. She hadn't mentioned me marrying Char since I had blown up on her.  
  
Hattie, Olive, and Mum Olga were gone for about ten minutes when I heard the doorbell ring.  
  
I answered it and Mandy was standing there with her arms full smiling at me.  
  
I let her in and she said, "You're going to the dance."  
  
"No, I'm not Mandy. I'm not going to go."  
  
"Yes you are. I have things in here that will make you beautiful, and I can use a little magic to make you not look like yourself."  
  
"Besides" she continued. "You need to tell Char the truth.  
  
I looked down. She was right. I have to go and tell Char the truth.  
  
She got me ready quickly, and I was off. 


	10. The Ball

The Ball  
  
The gym was already full when I got there. Everything was beautiful. Even better than what I saw in pictures of previous years' dances. Probably cause Char was here.  
  
It was a masked ball, so Mandy didn't have to worry much about disguising me.  
  
Char was standing there surrounded by girls.  
  
He looked bored. He tried to hide it, but I could see it.  
  
I walked across the dance floor looking in different directions and thinking. Mandy had used a spell to turn a pumpkin into a carriage and made other things, but they were to disappear at midnight.  
  
That gave me only a few hours.  
  
I danced with one boy from my math class who had no clue who I was. He said I was cute, but asked me a million times what my name was.  
  
I just told him I was someone he would never see again, so stop trying.  
  
I guess I attracted attention, because soon Hattie came over to me.  
  
"Hello" she said giving her toothy smile and holding out her hand. "I'm Hattie, daughter of Dame Olga."  
  
"Its nice to meet you" I said pitching my voice lower than usual. I shook her hand and she gripped mine as if I was one of her zits that she was trying to pop. Trust me, I know what it looks like.  
  
"May I ask your name?"  
  
"You may ask, but I shall not tell you."  
  
Just then Olive came over dragging Char.  
  
He smiled to me, and I could see the desperation in his eyes to get away from Olive. So he wasn't the one who was looking for Hattie for a wife.  
  
I curtsied and said, "your highness."  
  
"I don't believe I know you" he said looking me over.  
  
"No, your highness. You don't."  
  
"Then may I have this dance so I can?" he said offering his hand. I knew this was just to get away from the evil sisters.  
  
Hattie was looking at me in shock and pure hatred as I took his hand.  
  
We danced a slow dance as Char and I talked.  
  
"How come I haven't met you?" he asked me.  
  
"Because I have never been near the royal family highness."  
  
"Please, call me Char."  
  
"Char."  
  
The dance ended and I pulled away from him. "May I talk to you alone your highness?"  
  
"Of course" he said offering me his arm and leading me outside to lights and potted flowers that had been put there to make the scenery better.  
  
"What is it?" he asked leading me away from other groups and couples that had also come out.  
  
It was now or never.  
  
"I have something to confess."  
  
He looked at me questioningly. I took off my mask. I guess he must have seen the pictures of me and Arieda at her house because he gasped and smiled.  
  
"Ella!"  
  
"Ella?!" 


	11. The Secret

A/n: you get your wish, but its spun the way I want it, which is different sorry.  
  
The Secret  
  
Hattie came out from behind a tree where she had been watching us.  
  
I backed away from Char.  
  
"What are you doing?!" She was fuming.  
  
"You know Hattie?" he asked me. He didn't know who my stepfamily was.  
  
"I'm her stepsister" said Hattie glaring at me.  
  
I couldn't look at him.  
  
"What are you doing here?!"  
  
"Hattie, calm down" Char said.  
  
"Calm down? Calm down?! That little wench has been lying to you!"  
  
"What do you mean?!" I could tell Char was getting mad as well.  
  
It was coming out now, and there was nothing I could do. Hattie would be the one to tell him and I would just be standing here helpless.  
  
"She's cursed! She has to obey every order you give her, and she's dying from it because its so powerful!"  
  
I had stood there crying the whole time she had told that. There was a few moments silence before Char grabbed my arm and lightly said, "Ella."  
  
At that I pulled my arm from him and ran. 


	12. Home Again

Home Again  
  
After that moment at the dance I just ran.  
  
I ran back to my dad's house, packed my bags, and left a note for him on my bed.  
  
Dear dad:  
  
I'm sorry. I meant to stay so I could tell you all about me and catch up on all the years we missed. But I can't stay anymore. Your wife and her precious daughters will tell you why I came. Why I stayed.  
  
So good bye and good luck in life. You'll need it with that wife and stepdaughters of yours. If I offend, it doesn't matter. So think of it how you want.  
  
Your first and only true daughter,  
  
Ella  
  
After that Mandy and I went home. The word feels like honey. Sweet and wonderful, but yet sticky with the thought of my getting nowhere but worse with that visit.  
  
Now Char knows and next time he visits Arieda he'll want to see me. But I won't allow it.  
  
No, no and nope.  
  
Why is it that whenever I say no it ends in a yes?  
  
Apparently Char didn't finish his visit to Bast and just came straight to my home to see me.  
  
Oh yay!  
  
I was sitting at home one day while my mom was at work when the doorbell rang.  
  
Mandy was at the store so I got up and answered it.  
  
And what do you know? Char was standing there. 


	13. No or Yes

No or Yes  
  
I just stared at him for a few seconds then sighed and stepped out of the way so he could come in.  
  
I led him to the living room and he sat down on the couch while I sat on the other couch facing his.  
  
I couldn't meet his eyes.  
  
"Why are you here?" I asked.  
  
"Why did you run?" he shot back at me.  
  
"I thought you'd figure that out."  
  
"Because your cursed? Ella, all we have to do is get the fairy to take back the curse."  
  
"She won't take it back. My mom's tried."  
  
Char looked down.  
  
Char then reached down into his pocket. He pulled out one of my glass slippers that I had lost while running.  
  
For the first time I looked him in the eyes.  
  
"I found this on the stairway after you had left." He came over to me and took off my house slipper and put the glass one on. It fit perfectly. It was too small for normal people because I had fairy feet. "Marry me Ella."  
  
I put my hand in his though I started to cry.  
  
The door opened and Hattie came running through.  
  
"Don't marry him Ella. I order you not to."  
  
"Hattie!" said Char.  
  
"I can't marry you" my hand left his.  
  
Mum Olga ran through the door. "Stop it Hattie. If she marries him she can give you everything you want. Marry him Ella."  
  
I nodded and cried harder.  
  
"Yes Ella. Marry him" I could hear Hattie say.  
  
I couldn't believe it. I was being forced to marry Char. I would eventually die and he would be heartbroken. Then Hattie would get her claws on him and get him to marry her and she would rule the country.  
  
But then a horrible thought crossed my mind. What if someone ordered me to kill Char? I would have to. I couldn't do that to him. I would be a danger to him and to Kyrria. I couldn't marry him. I couldn't!  
  
"No!" I yelled getting up. "I won't marry you!"  
  
I turned to Hattie and Mum Olga who were staring at me with their mouths wide open. "I won't marry him!" I yelled to them.  
  
For the first time I saw Mandy standing at the door. I could see her mind working and then she smiled at me. She dropped everything she had and ran to hug me.  
  
"You broke the curse sweet!"  
  
She let me go and I went over to Char. He was smiling just as big as Mandy and his eyes were shining.  
  
"Now can you marry me?" he asked.  
  
I nodded and said, "yes." 


	14. The Ends

A/n: I am sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo sorry but I had to make the father nice to get the ending I wanted.  
  
The Ends  
  
We were married in a month. Arieda was there and was the one who was the happiest over the marriage after Char and I.  
  
My father came, to my surprise. He had come home to and empty house and found the note while looking around the house. He found it and immediately called my stepmother and demanded for her to tell him what it was all about.  
  
When he found out he scheduled with a private plane and came to see me.  
  
While making preparations for the wedding I didn't see my mother and father as much and wondered why but found out soon enough.  
  
The day before to wedding Char and I were down in the ballroom when they came up to us. They were holding hands.  
  
Apparently they had been spending time catching up. And they also gave us some good news. They were getting married again after my father's divorce with DAME Olga was final.  
  
But all in all, we lived happily ever after. 


	15. Last An

A/n: decided just to finish it. Schools out next week and I can only update here, so here's the rest of your story. Couldn't update cause comps. were down in school. 


End file.
